second quarter i thought was horrible. we didn't run the offense. we tried to run too much with the second unit on the floor,
then wehn the starters came back in they started to extend the lead, but they got away from what got them the lead inthe first
place.they need to go inside out more. bynum hasnt been looked for at all this game. kobe isnt letting the game come to him. he
is foring the issue and its not boding well for the team. it wasnt very fun basketball towatch for the most part. not enough
passing and not enough assists.too much one on one.

in the second quarer for a couple of mins we looked really good with lamar and kobe farmar trevor and i think kwame or bynum,
after starters all came in,we didnt look so fluid in our offense.

just some thoughts
andand

Da Fish!

Luke doesn't play the passing lanes D bad. Good job on that one Luke.

Faith,

Oh, don't get me wrong. The transition D is still a weak area. Which is why they need to cut down the turnovers. Granted, as you point out, some of it can be effort. But at the same time, this team doesn't really have the athleticism or enough good individual defenders to whip back and cover with continual success. Obviously, they should never stop trying to improve, but the more sensible and realistic method to help would be nixing the TO's. Do that and they'll find themselves defending more while set, where they actually have improved.

AK

Good challenge on that one by Drew.

Good job Lake Show.

Blow these dudes out by 30 by the end of the 3rd and then rest the starters for tomorrow.

That's what HUNGRY teams do!

Great shooting night for Fish... he needs to bring his Mama to all the games!

Man, Mike Miller is on fire. I like to see fellow Gators do well, but he needs to be cooled off lol.

AN OPEN LETTER TO MITCH KUPCHAK

Mr. Kupchak,
I'd like to take a moment and apologize to you personally, not only for the numerous ways, I attacked your competency, intellect, heart and desire to keep the Laker Organization, synonymous with greatness, but for second guessing what the "Logo" himself, instilled in you as his personal protégé'.

Watching the 07-08 Lakers, its become apparent to me, my armchair GM'ing would've set the franchise back years now in hindsight. The core nucleus of the team is young, quick, athletic and appears to have a tremendous upside with unlimited potential. The acquisition of Ariza was brilliant in terms of the "fit" for the team and by now, its no secret Bynum has progressed into something a lot of us scoffed at as little as 9 months ago, and now, outside of KG, D.Howard and "maybe" 1 or 2 others, there isn't a GM in the league that wouldn't pull the trigger on a deal for the Kareem protégé' now.

You stuck to your guns Mitch, you took one for the Buss family. You did the unthinkable. You told the best individual nba player since Jordon,to shut up, do YOUR job and allow me to do MINE. You put your nads on the chopping block when most of us Laker fans wanted to chop them. I see flashes of brilliance with this young team, I see flashes of a Jerry West, shrewdly and quietly constructed, mini dynasty in the making. Although I believe we're still one, maybe two more pieces away from Championship status, I have a restored sense of faith that you, not only learned a thing or two from the Logo, but you're blazing your own trail now and leaving YOUR fingerprints on the organization and in my own humble opinion, doesnt look bad at all. Not at all.

Good Luck and Thank You for being Hard Headed.!

Xodus,

Miller's willingness to play off the bench in the past, along with having spent a lot of time with mediocre teams, has led a LOT of people to underate him, I think. Your fellow alum can play. Not a sick athlete, but his all around game is pretty solid. I'd love to have that guy on the Lakers. Seems like a great triangle fit to boot.

AK

Gasol's turkey neck is starting to bother me a little bit.....

This game would have been over already had we not traded baskets and gave them the Mo.

Come on Lakes!

AK,

Miller is definitely underrated, he can shoot with the best of them. And how many guys can say they've led their alma mater's to the NCAA title game, won rookie of the year, 6th man of the year and play for the US National team.

He's not a superstar by any means, but he'd be a valuable cog on a championship contending team.

John Ireland talking about this stupid Elvis day every time his segment comes up is just lame.

I wonder why Phil hasn't played Bynum and Fish in the fourth.

sixonezero,

boo Joel lol.

This game was never in doubt... I don't mind the lapses... I think sometimes
the starters lose their rhythm in the 2nd game of the back-to-back when
none of them play at all in the 4th.

Xodus,

"I wonder why Phil hasn't played Bynum and Fish in the fourth."

I just followed on Gamecast but I have to believe tonight was a good time to get D-Fish some rest and also give Kwame some minutes to get back in game shape. This thing never seemed close from my vantage point, so it's a good time to get some guys some rest, others some run.

Tomorrow night is a pretty big game, my guess is PJ feels the same.

Another double digit, in control the entire game, win for the Lakers.

I can get used to this.

I don't think Luke or LO played the 4th either. I guess Phil wanted to rest them.

The one pic' 'n roll play with Bynum and Kobe was good to me because it came only once in the game. It only came once because the Grizzles defense was on guard. When a team plays proper defense the most you're going to get off a pic' 'n roll 2 maybe 4 points. If the teams gets 6 points off of the pic' 'n roll...well, that's just bad defense by the opponent.

So that one pic' 'n roll play by Kobe and Bynum in the first half was good as gold to me because it involved a little slip created by Kobe and Bynum. The defender was actuall there. But that little space was just enough to get Andrew to the basket. That beautiful because the defense resistance was there. They took that pic' 'n roll despite the defense.

When the defense is good that's all the pic' 'n roll you're supposed to get.

mike

Mike T.,

I, too, cannot fricken believe how incredible Jackie Johnson's body is. My God!

She also seems nice!

Enough of this talk, back to the Lakers.

GO LAKERS!

Andrew Z,

Good analysis.

GO LAKERS!

Hey K Brothers,

Human deficits aside... you two do a good job with this blog.

You honestly should do a poll to see how many sports writers at the L.A. Times deserve a raise.

I think you two would be among the very few that would be overwhelmingly voted "RAISE!"

GO LAKERS!

LO came in for the last like minute and a half when memphis had cut the lead to twelve. I think Kobe played because Phil wanted him to get out of his funk. That didn't really happen but Kobe didn't exert a whole bunch of energy when he was out there anyways because the game was pretty well in hand. Basically all the starters except Kobe rested the whole fourth quarter and Kobe's will be just fine, wind wise, for tomorrow. We should be able to come out strong tomorrow against the Hornets. With their four days of rest, their might, just might, be some rust and an oppurtunity at the very beginning of the game (first couple minutes, at most) to start strong and lock in on defense. Pleased with the win tonight, and expecting a good game tomorrow. There is absolutely no excuse to be blown out tomorrow. We shall see. My gut feeling? I think we find a way, as we have all season. C'mon Lakeshow!

Andrew Z,

The weird thing about is that Kobe played virtually the whole fourth. I think he was trying to buy those guys some rest too, but it seems strange that he'd rest the other guys but play Kobe 40 minutes.

Posted by: Xodus | January 08, 2008 at 07:36 PM

I think PJ just wanted to keep a scorer and someone who can create his own shot and get to the free throw line in there because the second unit still was a little shaky in the second quarter. I don't think he wanted to take the chance of sitting all the starters and then have to bring them back if the second unit can't maintain the lead. Notice how even in the second quarter PJ had LO out there with the second unit. PJ's just trying to keep things under control. Besides, Jordan and Kwame were doing pretty good in the fourth so there was no need to bring Fish and Andrew back in. Great coaching tonight.